In honor of the finale of the most recent season of Project Runway, the first half of which airs tonight, I am counting down some of my favorite challenge outfits of all time. Some of these outfits were wins, some got commendations from the judges but lost to an outfit I didn’t prize as highly. The judges didn’t, at least not that I remember, trash any of them (although one was made from trash, hee hee). I won’t pretend that I haven’t occasionally loved something to which Heidi or Michael or Nina was indifferent, however. Note: I wrote this entry a few weeks ago, and waited to post it to coincide with the finale. I had chosen my top ten and I really didn’t think that any amazing outfits were going to creep in there in the interim. I was wrong! So I am opening my top ten favorite Project Runway outfits with an honorable mention from last week. 11. (honorable mention) Emilio’s circus dress Damn that Emilio! He has one of the biggest egos that has ever appeared on Project Runway and that is SAYING SOMETHING. He has been driving me crazy this entire season, becoming more and more inflated with self-importance with every one of his wins (and there’s been many) and in last week’s episode, he was grandstanding as much as ever. Sets my teeth on edge, that kind of behavior. But did you see the dress he made? Holy crap. The challenge was to make a fashion-forward outfit that was “circus-inspired.†Two designers sent ridiculous costumes down the runway, and two of them kind of boring outfits in circus-y colors. Only Emilio did exactly what was requested (and won the challenge without any hesitation on the part of the judges): he made a dress that was beautiful on its own, but which also was reminiscent of the circus (the stripes, the polka dots, the trapeze-y poof of the skirt). “It looks like the circus! And it’s BEAUTIFUL!†That’s what designing is about, isn’t it? (Now just quit giving Tim lip, Emilio! He’s there to help!) Having dispatched of that, let’s get to my preexisting top ten! 10. Sweet P’s denim dress This season four challenge was to create an outfit made entirely out of repurposed Levis. One of my favorite designers from that season, the strangely loveable biker chick Sweet P, started out envisioning a long, flowing denim wedding gown. But when Tim Gunn suggested it was too “hippie-dippie,†she chopped it off at the knee and made the most adorable Little Blue Dress you could imagine. Michael Kors said it had “voodoo†and Heidi chimed in, “Slimming voodoo!†She then said that any of them would be eager to wear it, though she couldn’t speak for Michael. He replied, “Well, with the right shoe…†Why it didn’t win: Branding. The guest judge, a VP from Levi’s, complained that it wasn’t recognizable enough as Levi’s. They instead gave the win to crying Ricky, who was gone the next week. Click ahead--unless you have dial-up, in which case don't bother, because there are pictures galore!